Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology for FY 2009

这一行动为NSF 2009财年博士后研究奖学金提供了资金。该奖学金支持伯特兰·坦纳的一项研究和培训计划，该计划的标题是“使用系统分析的白噪声方法表征肌肉收缩的分子基础”。这项研究的主办机构是佛蒙特州大学，赞助科学家是大卫·莫根。生物系统通常表现出由潜在的空间、化学和机械过程驱动的复杂行为。这项研究开发并应用了系统分析的工程技术来识别和描述肌肉组织收缩背后的分子过程。这项技术使用肌肉长度的微小随机变化(白噪声长度刺激)来区分肌肉反应的线性和非线性部分。具体地说，这项研究利用从细胞膜上剥离的飞行肌肉纤维来控制它们的化学环境。这种方法将有助于在生理范围内测量肌肉变形，同时采样比目前测量技术可用的更宽的肌肉响应频率范围。这些拟议的测量将以前所未有的细节揭示无脊椎动物肌肉的动态特性，并为将白噪声分析应用于脊椎动物肌肉和其他生物系统奠定基础。培训目标是开发用于预测复杂生物行为和研究生物力学的计算工具。这项工作的更广泛的影响包括培训本科生使用数学模型来研究肌肉收缩。这项研究为从单个分子到整个生物体的不同水平的生物力学系统的研究提供了一个基本框架。

This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2009. The fellowship supports a research and training plan entitled "Characterizing the molecular basis of muscle contraction using a white-noise method of system analysis" for Bertrand Tanner. The host institution for this research is the University of Vermont, and the sponsoring scientist is David Maughan.Biological systems generally exhibit complicated behavior driven by underlying spatial, chemical, and mechanical processes. This research develops and applies engineering techniques of system analysis to identify and describe molecular processes that underlie contraction in muscle tissue. This technique uses small, random changes in muscle length (white-noise length stimuli) to distinguish linear and non-linear portions of the muscle response. Specifically, this research utilizes flight muscle fibers stripped of their cellular membranes to allow control of their chemical environment. This methodology will facilitate measurements over a physiological range of muscle distortions, while simultaneously sampling a broader frequency range of the muscle response than is available with current measurement techniques. These proposed measurements will reveal dynamic properties of invertebrate muscle in unprecedented detail, and set the stage for applying white-noise analysis to vertebrate muscle and other biological systems. The training goals are development of computational tools used to predict complex biological behavior and for study of biomechanics. Broader impacts of this work include training undergraduate students to use mathematical models to study muscle contraction. This research provides a basic framework for study of biomechanical systems at various levels, from individual molecules to entire organisms.